The Treasured Past, And The Gleaming Future
by another.fatal.wreck
Summary: Life after finding the treasure was all but glamorous to Riley Poole. But when Riley is invited to a Gates family reunion, he is pulled into another revitting adventure, and meets the person that might be able to fill the void in his life. RileyOC
1. Chapter 1

Riley stared out the rain splattered window of his rather bland and boring Washington, DC apartment at 3 AM in a fixed trance. After finding "the treasure of all treasures" 6 months earlier, life seemed to be a whirlwind of excitment, fame, and fortune. Although he claimed to have only received a miniscule portion of the Knights Templar fortune(one half of one percent to be exact), he knew it was more than plenty. He was launched into the typical celebrity scene, becoming a mega millionaire literally overnight. The parties were indulgant, every drink was intoxicating, the VIP rooms were exquisite, and the women were beautiful. But after the legal limit and countless party invitations, everything became a blur. Nothing seemed plausible or feasible. He was seemingly doomed to roam the life that was all too typical and the future that was all too inevitable.

The blonde haired, blue eyed date earlier was beautiful, gorgeous even. She was in some movie, or two, he remembered. But he couldn't remember which ones. She seemed substanceless. She knew everything there was to know about hair, nails, skin, and fashion.

_"So, what school did you go to?" Riley asked, hoping for an intelligent conversation to come out of the seemingly obvious and simple question._

"...Rossington High School" She replied simply, smiling her million dollar smile. Riley nodded without emotion, further mentally smacking himself for his false sense of hope. A moment of silence passed before she spoke again. "Did you see Angelina Jolie's dress the other night at the movie premiere!? God, it was hideous"  
  
Riley had since vowed to not call her again, in fear of being bombarded with trivial facts about celebrities and related topics. Besides, he was the one left to pay the entire $150 bill. _That was ridiculous. She's got money to spend, she can pay for her half he thought to himself.  
_  
Riley was taken from his trance when his cell phone started vibrating on the coffee table beside him. He picked it up, rolling his eyes once he noticed who was culprit. He faked a yawn as he carefully answered the call.

"Oh please, Riley, we both know you were wide awake," said the voice before Riley could say "Hello?"

"And how would you know, Ben? It's not like you know what my typical sleeping patterns are," Riley retorted.

"Well, whenever you stay over here, you stare at the TV until the clock chimes 5 AM. Then you typically don't wake up until around 2 that afternoon." Ben paused expecting some pathetic attempt at a sarcastic remark from Riley, but continued when it didn't come. "Speaking of typical, how was your date?"

Riley scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "How did you know I had a date?"

"I have nearly unlimited resources"

"You're starting to sound alot like Ian, you know. It's scaring me." Ben laughed lightly.

"Everything scares you, Riley"

"Does not," Riley replied childishly.

"Ok, whatever. Now, tell me about this date"

"What about it? I barely remember it."

"It was _that_ bad?"

"It was worse" Ben winced at his friends remark.

"How bad was it?"

"Well...it was about as bad as..." Riley paused trying to think of the best ending to the simile he had created. He then sputtered out the first thing that came to mind. "Green bean casserole"

"Hey, I like green bean casserole," Ben replied defensively. Riley rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean, you freak."

"How am _I_ a freak?"

"You like green bean casserole," Riley replied simply.

"At least I don't date airhead bimbos" Riley raised an eyebrow at his friends smartass remark.

"Touché" He mumbled. "So why did you really call?"

"Did she have anything interesting to say?" Ben asked, ignoring Riley's question completely.

"Um...I don't really remember, but I doubt it" Riley heard Ben chuckling in the background.

"Has she traveled anywhere of interest?"

"Well, if you find the Fashion Institute of California interesting, sure," Riley replied dryly. Ben let out another burst of laughter.

"So I see. What was her name?" Ben waited for a typical name to make its way over the phone line connection, but it didn't seem to come. "Riley?"

"Yeah, I'm here..." Riley trailed off seeming preoccupied with hard thinking.

"You don't even remember her name?" Ben asked in utter surprise.

"Hey! I do so!" Riley paused trying his hardest think of her name. 

"...Then what was it?"

"Uh...well it...it was something like..." Riley quickly looked around his dark apartment for some clue to her name. He turned on the tv to a news segment on Britney Spears and her new husband.

"Riley?"

"Huh? Oh, right. It was...Britney" He replied, sighing in relief.

"Right..." Ben said, hardly believing what Riley had said.

"So why did really call, Ben?"

"Well, you see, Abigail and I are hosting my family's annual reunion this year."

"In that big ol' mansion of yours?"

"It's not a _mansion_, it's a _manor_" Ben retorted, stressing the less than obvious difference.

"So what? Why are you telling me about this? I'm not a Gates...or a conspiracy theorist for that matter"

"Riley!"

"What!?" Ben rolled his eyes in frustration.

"We...well..." Ben stuttered, trying to find the right words to say.

"Just say it, Ben, you want me to come and be a part of the madness that is the Gates family legacy," Riley replied smugly, smirking to himself. Ben rolled his eyes, once again.

"Will you just come, Riley? And please...please please please try to be normal for once?" Ben begged.

"What does that mean?"

"It means what it sounds like it means"

"But it sounds like you mean that it means that...," Ben cocked an eyebrow in confusion as to what his friend was trying to get at. "I'm confused," Riley ended simply.

"That's nothing new," Ben mumbled.

"So, why is my normal self, not so...normal?"

"Well, you're a computer programmer, or were, am I right?"

"Yeah..." Riley replied slowly.

"And nearly everyone in my family are historians"

"Ah, so I'm the odd man out"

"In a sense, yeah"

"But that can be seen as a good thing"

"...In what way?"

"In the way that I'll be the most interesting, unique person there" Riley smirked as his genius thinking. "People will be dying to talk to me"

"Don't count on it" Riley's confidence fell immediately.

"Why do you have to do that?"

"Do what?" Ben asked dumbly.

"Be so mean to me" Riley's childish woes once again became apparent.

"Take it like a man, Riley!" Ben replied in a husky voice.

"Yeah, yeah. So, what's wrong with my regular, not so 'normal', self?" Riley asked curiously.

"Well, you're just a little...off, ok?"

"I am not!" Riley replied childishly.

"And you would know, how?"

"...I don't know?"

"That's right, you wouldn't know. So just come to the party this afternoon and act decent."

"How crazy is this going to be?"

"Well...about 50 people will be there" Riley's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "So pretty crazy, I expect"

"Holy lord, I'm going to die"

"And you'll be the only non-Gates there, so...try to blend in or something. The party starts at 3, so don't be late. We're a little persnickety about that stuff"

"Ok," Riley said, making a mental note to himself to make his final will.

"Ok, see you then I guess. Bye." Ben hung up before Riley could force in a quick goodbye. He hung up his phone, setting it back down on the coffee table, and he went back to staring out the rain soaked window. 

A day with the Gates. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. There was bound to be a Gates that _wasn't_ involved with history in some way, shape, or form. And if there wasn't, then Riley was bound to have an utterly horrible time mingling amongst them, feeling like a complete idiot. He knew everything there was to know about computers and other tid bits about the rest of the technological world, but hardly anything about history. He knew he was going to get ripped to shreds at this Gates family reunion and was _not_ looking forward to it.

"The opening of the Smithsonian portion of the Knights Templar treasure exhibit was attended by the best of the best of Hollywood and, of course Benjamin Gates, Abigail Chase, and Riley Poole, the discoverers of the biggest treasure known to modern man," said a voice from the TV.

Riley turned to the TV and rolled his eyes in annoyance. He reached for the remote and quickly shut it off before it could elaborate anymore on the story. _This is getting ridiculous_ Riley thought to himself as he he headed to his bedroom at the end of the short hallway on the other side of his apartment. 


	2. Chapter 2

2. Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chili Peppers played loudly from the cell phone next to Riley's head. He let out a muffled groan as he lifted his head from the pillow he fell asleep on and grabbed the phone before the call was sent to the answering machine. "Yes?" Riley answered in an annoyed tone.

"Good, you're awake" Ben replied from the other end of the line.

"Well, now I am. I was perfectly fine sleeping, you know"

"I figured you would be sleeping still, so I felt obliged to wake you up" Ben said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, fine, I'm up now, thanks to you." Riley propped himself up on his elbows and glanced over at the clock on his bedside table.

"It's 2:15" Ben informed Riley.

"Yeah I noticed," Riley said, mostly to himself.

"In other words..." Ben said slowly. "You need to be at my house in an hour. And it takes about half an hour to get here, so you've got about...15 minutes before I consider you late and damned to be hated at the reunion."

"Oh, well that's just fantastic that you thought to mention that," Riley retorted sarcastically as he squirmed out of bed and rushed into his closet. "Why do you care anyways?"

"Is it so hard that I actually consider your status amongst the Gates an important thing?" Ben replied in mock offense.

"Oh, come on. You could care less if I was hated by your family. You never see them anyways"

"You're right," Ben said plainly.

"Except your dad," Riley continued as if he had never heard Ben.

"What about him?"

"Well he doesn't really like me...from what I've gathered at least."

"Well, that was a given," Ben mumbled.

"You think it was because I actually ate some of that pizza?" Riley wondered.

"I doubt it"

"Maybe it was because I volunteered for the treasure hunt..." Riley mused to himself.

"Riley, you have 9 minutes until you can leave and _maybe_ get here in time." Riley's head shot back to the clock. Ben was right. It was 2:21. Riley hastily grabbed a plain black t-shirt and slipped on the jeans he had worn yesterday. "The family's already started arriving, so...I would get a move on it." Riley pinched the phone between his ear and his shoulder while he quickly began brushing his teeth.

"Is this going to be a granny party?" Riley mumbled incoherently through his toothpaste foam filled mouth. Ben paused for a second before answering.

"What did you say?" He replied in confusion.

"I said: 'Is this going to be a granny party?'" Riley half yelled into the phone, foam still filling his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Ben asked. Riley set the phone down on the bathroom counter as he rinsed and washed his mouth of toothpaste. He licked and bared all of his teeth in the mirror, as a ritual, before once again speaking into the phone.

"I was brushing my teeth"

"Oh, ok. As long as it means you'll have good hygiene today..." Ben trailed.

"Will you answer my question?" Riley asked impatiently.

"Oh, what was it? I couldn't tell because of your toothpaste filled mouth" Riley rolled his eyes.

"I asked: 'Is this going to be a granny party?'"

"A what?" Ben asked in half confusion and shock.

"A granny party, you know? A bunch of old folk in wheelchairs and strolling by with walkers?"

"No..." Ben replied slowly. "Why?"

"Oh, because that's what my family reunions are usually like," Riley replied simply. "Maybe I'll take you to one of mine since you're letting me come to one of yours"

"Yeah, that'd be fine," Ben said, seeming preoccupied. "You're late, Riley"

Riley's eyes widened. "What?" He stuttered.

"You're late" Ben replied simply.

"Not good," Riley mumbled to himself. "I'll be there in 20 minutes, Ben, bye" He quickly hung up the phone and stuffed it into his back pocket. He grabbed the keys to his red sports car before sprinting down the stairs of his apartment complex. As he reached the bottom of the last flight of stairs, he accidently bumped into an elderly woman making her own way down the stairs.

"Be careful, young man!" she yelled back to him. Riley glanced back to her, and grinned sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Downey. I'll buy you some roses, I promise!"

Mrs. Downey smiled cheekily at Riley's promise. "I always knew you were a keeper," she replied.

"Well, I'm off, Mrs. Downey," Riley said, turning back towards the entrance of the complex.

"What? Why are you in such a hurry, young man? It's not healthy!" Mrs. Downey yelled to him, with no luck of a response, and continued on her way.

Riley turned off the ignition to his sports car and hastily made his way up the ridiculously long driveway that led to the Gates manor. He had to park nearly halfway down the mile long stretch of gravel because of the long line of cars that had clogged up the rest of the driveway. _Must be all of the Gates's_, he thought to himself. _That is a _damn _lot of conspiracy theorists I'm going to have to deal with_.

Most of the cars were of the decent type. Riley even spotted the Cadillac Deville he had driven in when they had been looking for the Knights Templar treasure. It belonged to Patrick Gates, Ben's father, and he was not happy that Ben, Abigail, and Riley had stolen his vehicle after duct taping him to a chair to be left to the FBI. Riley chuckled at the memories that surfaced from 6 months earlier.

He had to admit it was probably the most exciting and funnest time of his life. High school was hardly anything to remember. He was a computer geek, and he knew it at the time. It didn't seem to bother him all that much. He wasn't into the party scene and wasn't ever really "good with the ladies". He wasn't tall, he wasn't buff, and he _definitely_ wasn't a jock. Girls never paid much attention to him anyways, so he figured that he shouldn't bother with it. He did have a girlfriend once though. Her name was Jenna. She had blonde hair and wore thick glasses that concealed her eye color. He figured she was a geek too, but never thought much about it. She was nice. Nicer than most girls at least. That was in 10th grade, and here he was, 10 years later. He hadn't been in a relationship since. He found that somewhat pathetic. And so did everyone else...

"Riley! You're here!" Ben yelled to Riley from the steps leading to the house. He was wearing casual jeans and a long sleeved dark green sweater. Riley squinted at the smiling Ben from the sunlight.

"Of course. You told me to come, freak," Riley half mumbled to himself. Ben laughed at his remark.

"Still think I'm a freak?"

"Yep. Ever since you dropped Abigail to her death" Ben scrunched his eyebrows in confusion and amusement.

"Abigail's alive, Riley"

Riley just stared emotionless at Ben, trying to find a good rebuttle. "I...know that," he finally stuttered.

Ben smiled and clapped Riley on the back as a friend does. "I'm glad you came, Riley."

"Yeah, me too" Riley muttered. "So, where's the party? I'm starving."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Everyone's inside," Ben replied, making his way towards the door to the house. "Come on in." Ben held the door open for Riley as if he were an usher. Riley heeded to Ben's polite move and stepped inside the house. He stopped suddenly as he reached the marble floor. There was a crowd of people staring at him.

"Holy lord," Riley mumbled to himself. He heard the door close and Ben stepped beside him, once again, clapping a hand on his back.

"Everyone," Ben began. The crowd hushed in excitment and anticipation. "This is Riley Poole. My great friend and co-finder of the Knights Templar treasure." There was a moment of pure silence as Riley swallowed hard, expecting to be bombarded with hugs and just all around Gates's.

"Am I late?" Riley whispered to Ben, his eyes never leaving the crowd of conspiracy theorists.

Ben quickly checked his watch. His eyes widened at the numbers that appeared before him. "Uh...yeah. It's 3:03."

Riley swalled hard once again. He knew this wasn't going to be good. "Uh...hi there, everyone!" Riley stuttered, trying to sound confident and happy to be there. "I'm Riley Poole" Riley smiled a million dollar smile, hoping to get some sort of cheer or holler in return. Nothing came.

Ben cleared his throat nervously. "Now, I know he's late, everyone, but give him a break. He didn't even comb his hair just to try to get here on time." Riley looked at Ben in surprise and touched his hair. It was still messy, his normal bed head. His cheeks immediately flushed pink as he realized his attempt at good hygiene had gone to waste. "He's a decent man, and all he wants is the Gates family respect," Ben finished. Another moment of silence passed, leaving a terrifying emptiness to the foyer. "So what do you say?" Ben finally spoke up again, sounding just as nervous as Riley.

Suddenly a small girl, no older than 5, spoke up, gaining everyones attention. "...Riley?" she asked, seeming to lightly dab into the subject of Riley. Riley smiled widely.

"Riley" Ben replied confidently, squatting to the girl's height.

Suddenly, calls of "Riley!" came from everywhere in the crowd. Riley continued to smile as members of the Gates family came to shake his hand, hug him, and kiss him on the cheek. He was basking in the newly found respect he was getting from the Gates family and occasionally found himself turning a light shade of pink from all of the attention.

"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Poole"

"Glad you could come, Riley!"

"Stay as long as you like, deary"

"Tell me about your thoughts on the treasure"

"Well aren't you as cute as a button!"

The compliments and attention was almost overwhelming, Riley had to admit.

"Thank you, everyone! I'm glad you're all so fond of me now," Riley announced to the crowd of Gates, smiling widely. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to retreat to the kitchen to quench my unlawful thirst." Riley pushed his way through the thick crowd and headed for the kitchen.

Ben and Abigail's house was luxurious, yet still simple and not overly done. Historical paintings and artifacts littered the walls, and long corridors seemed untouched. Marble paved his nearly quiet way to the kitchen. He heard the rest of the Gates talking amongst themselves and mingling with long lost relatives they had thought to have died.

He chuckled to himself as he turned the corner into the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks once he was in full view of the entire kitchen. A woman was standing next to the stove reading a magazine of some type, minding her own business. She was of short stature, possibly standing at 5'2", and had dark brown hair that reached a little past her shoulders. He noticed that she was thin, but not a stick figure either. She had a healthy dose of curves as well, but they seemed like they were in all the right places.

Suddenly, the timer on the stove beeped to a halt, and the woman grabbed a plate. She held the frying pan over the plate and the sandwich she had been cooking slipped right off of the pan onto the plate. After cutting the sandwich in half, she grabbed her magazine and turned around, facing Riley. She jumped slightly and touched the hand holding the magazine to her heart.

"Shit, you scared me half to death," she said, laughing ever so slightly. Riley stood speechless. The woman cocked an eyebrow, and her eyes widened in embarassment. "Oh! I'm sorry!" she cried. She quickly set down the plate and the magazine and turned back to Riley, extending a hand. "I'm Issy," she said with a glittering smile, practically speaking with her coal-colored eyes speaking through her thick-rimmed black glasses.

She wasn't as gorgeous as the celebrity type Riley usually end up dating, but she was definitely not ugly. She was more mysterious looking than anything. Her eyes seemed endless and she seemed all around healthy.

"I'm Issy" she said slowly, hinting to Riley to shake her hand.

Riley was taken from his trance and quickly grabbed her hand, shaking it lightly. "I'm Riley," he replied.

Issy smiled and went to sit down at the island that she had set down her sandwich. "Yeah, I heard," she replied, lightly laughing. "Sorry I wasn't there, I was making myself some food."

Riley walked towards the island cautiously. "What were you making?" he managed to say.

Issy looked back up to him, swallowing what she had been chewing. "A grilled cheese"

"Ah, an American classic," Riley replied, trying to sound confident.

"Yep, and one of my favorites," Issy said, taking another bite of her sandwich and reading more of the magazine she had brought with her.

"Why did you have it on a timer?" Riley asked curiously.

"Oh, I always do that when I'm making a grilled cheese. 80-90 seconds on each side makes the perfect sandwich. Usually less on the second side, because it's already been heated somewhat," she replied nonchalantly, still reading from her magazine.

"So, you've got this whole thing down to a science I see," Riley replied smirking.

Issy chuckled and looked straight at Riley. "Yeah, it's my job" She held up the magazine she was reading.

Riley squinted, trying to read the title of the magazine. _New England Journal of Medicine? Hmm_, he thought to himself. "Oh, you're a doctor?" He asked, genuinely curious.

Issy swallowed another bite of her sandwich and shook her head. Riley raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Medical examiner," she replied.

Riley nodded, trying to hide his confusion and embarassment. "Wh-...What's a medical examiner?"

Issy turned to him and smiled cheekily. "Oh, I just examine dead bodies for causes of death basically," she replied nonchalantly.

Riley nodded once again, but not confusion had left him. "Oh, ok." He winced at the career. "That's...interesting." _More like disgusting_, he thought to himself.

Issy laughed and smiled back to him. "Yeah, it's a disgusting career." _Did she just read my mind_, Riley thought to himself in a state of worry.

"Yeah, sounds like it," Riley replied, wincing in the process. Issy laughed again, causing Riley to smile in return. "So, you're a Gates, but you're not a historian? Or history buff..." He asked out of curiousity.

Issy shook her head. "Nope. History was never my thing."

"Mine neither," Riley replied sighing.

"I guess that makes me the black sheep of the family, doesn't it?" Issy asked, expecting no answer.

"I don't think so," Riley said, smiling at Issy. Issy half-smiled back to him.

"So what do you do for a living?" Issy asked, seeming to be genuinely curious in what Riley had to say.

Riley cleared his throat. "Well, if I'm not galavanting all over the east coast searching for hidden treasure with my coherts Ben and Abigail," Issy laugh whole-heartedly at Riley's pathetic attempt at a joke. "I tend to do some computer programming."

Issy smiled brightly. "I see. Well I guess you technically don't have to work now, you're set for life"

Riley smiled at this little fact. "You're absolutely right. Why should I even work?" Issy was still smiling when Riley paused, thinking hard. "And why did I never think about that before?" he asked mostly to himself.

Issy burst out laughing. "I have no idea," she replied still laughing and Riley joined in her laughter.

"What are you two flirts laughing about?" Ben spoke from the other side of the kitchen, smirking to himself.

"Nothing, Uncle Ben," Issy replied rolling her eyes.

Riley's laughter stopped suddenly. "_Uncle _Ben?"

"Riley, I invited you to a _family_ reunion. I said you were going to be the only non-Gates here, and I still stand by that." Ben retorted, amusing Issy.

Riley turned back to Issy, half smiling out of embarassment. Issy smiled fully and stuck out her hand. "I'm Isidora Gates," she said confidently.

Riley looked at her hand, and took it in his, shaking it once again. "I'm Riley Poole"


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm leaving. There's no Gates party without the founder of it's treasure now is there?" Ben said sarcastically while hastily leaving the kitchen and entering the living room.

"Well, Mr. Poole," Issy said as she grabbed her now empty plate and headed towards the sink. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've read all about you in the magazines and newspaper."

Riley's face showed an immediate sense of worry. "Nothing...bad I hope..." He trailed off.

Issy laughed as she looked back at Riley in an assuring fashion. "No, no, not at all."

Riley sighed quickly in relief and breathed a quick, "Good."

"They mostly mentioned little tidbits about the treasure and stuff like that." Issy set down the towel she had been using to clean the plate with and peered out the window facing the backyard in deep thought. "Well...actually they didn't talk about you much at all, now that I think about it. Mostly about Ben and Abigail."

Riley rolled his eyes. This had happen much more often than he would've hoped. Abigail and Ben seemed to be the ones harvesting all the attention when it came to treasure recognition. All he had gotten was bimbos and airheads. And those shouldn't even count...

"Yeah, they get all the good attention," Riley huffed in a childish tone, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Issy asked in a curious way.

Riley shuffled about in his seat nervously. "What it sounds like I guess. They get the _good_ fame, the _good_ lifestyle, the _good_ house, and the _perfect_ ending. And what do I get? Nothing but knowledgeless hotties that can't hold a conversation without thinking about themselves."

Issy raised her eyebrows at his venting. _He doesn't seem as happy as I thought he would've been_, she thought to herself. "You have _nothing_ good? Nothing at all?"

"Well..." Riley began. "I have this flat screen plasma TV that's pretty tight," he finished, mostly to himself.

Issy laughed at his typical "guy" answer. "Then _there's_ something to live for."

"I guess so..." Silence filled the room for a few moments as both Riley and Issy stared into space. "So, your name's Isidora?"

Issy nodded. "Yep, Isidora Gates. Issy's just a nickname my dad came up with."

"Is that...Spanish or something like that?"

"No, it's Croatian. Well, I guess there's some sort of Spanish form out there, but mine's Croatian."

"Oh, ok...Where's Croatia?" Riley asked dumbly.

Issy looked at Riley in utter shock. "You know everything there is to know about computers and other technical...gadgets," Issy put emphasis on gadgets by flailing her arms in an exxagerated fashion. "But you don't know simple geography?"

Riley shot his forearms up as if he was being accused of murder. "Hey! I know how to get to my apartment and Ben's house, that's good enough for me. Besides, GPS can get me _anywhere_."

"That's sad, you know?"

"So?" Riley replied with a small smirk emerging on his face. "Never got me into too much trouble."

Issy sauntered slowly towards Riley, a smirk playing on her lips and her arms crossed as she stood only inches from his face. "It's not attractive to play cocky, you know that right?"

"And playing a know-it-all is even _more_ unattractive, you know that right?" Riley replied cooly and confidently while mocking her. _Wow...did_ I_ just say that? _Issy furrowed her eyebrows and stared deeply into Riley's bright blue eyes, nearly losing herself in the process. "So...Where's Croatia?"

"I'm not telling," Issy said simply and turned, leaving Riley in the kitchen by himself.

"Fine," Riley said to himself as he grabbed his laptop from out of its carrier, propping it onto the counter and plugging it into an outlet. "I'll figure it out myself."

Issy continued to smirk as she left Riley to himself in the kitchen. As she turned the corner into hallway, Ben was standing in her path. She jumped in fright and took a few steps back to regain her composure.

"Jesus Christ, Ben, don't do that!" she yelled.

Ben chuckled lightly. "Oh, please. You need to handle yourself better."

Issy rolled her eyes and looked up at Ben. "And you need to step a little farther from the corner next time, so this doesn't happen again."

"Will do, then." A few moments of silence filled the void between Issy and Ben as they both looked blankly at each other.

"Thanks for inviting me, Ben," Issy muttered, looking at the floor. "I never really get invited to these family gatherings."

"No problem. Wouldn't have been a party without you."

Issy laughed quitely. "Yeah right." Another moment of silence passed between the two. "So...whats this 'perfect ending' between you and Abigail?" Issy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ben's face showed of confusion and surprise. "Where'd you hear that from?"

"Riley."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Issy, you can't tell anyone," he began in a slight whisper, checking around him to see if anyone else was listening in on their conversation. "Nobody knows yet."

"Oh, it's all a big secret?" Ben nodded enthusiastically. "Well I guess I'm obliged to _keep_ it a secret until the secrets out then, right?" Ben nodded, only slower this time. "Damn, that kind of sucks. But it _is_ fun to know things other people don't..." Issy trailed off.

"Issy, you can't tell _anyone_. This family party is here partly because I wanted Abigail to meet the family and the family to meet Abigail before I announce the engagement." Ben replied in a hushed manner.

Issy's mouth gaped open as the engagement was revealed. "You're getting engaged!?" she exclaimed.

Ben put a hand over Issy's mouth to keep her quiet. He then looked at her confused. "You didn't know?!" he yelled in a loud whisper. Issy shook her head silently because of Ben's hand still clapped over her lips. Ben then removed his hand from her face. "I thought you knew?"

"Nope, you never told me what the 'perfect ending' supposedly was," Issy replied, using air quotations.

"You _have_ to keep this engagement a secret, Issy. I'm begging you."

"Will do, Uncle Ben." Issy then closed her mouth as if it were a zipper. "My lips are sealed..." Ben sighed dramatically. "...For now." Ben's expression turned back to frustration as Issy stood laughing whole-heartedly. "I'm kidding, Ben! Jeez, calm down for once."

"Please, Issy, a secret."

"I know, I know," Issy replied rolling her eyes. "You know...I still haven't met Abigail."

Issy sat on the ground, her back against the hallway wall, waiting for Ben to return with Abigail in tow. He had told her to stay put until he came back and she had obeyed, much to her dismay. She figured it was because he didn't trust her with their secret and all. She found it odd, but she just figured Ben wanted to be _very_ overprotective about the secret engagement until the secret was out on _his _watch. She didn't like being told what to do most of the time. She was an independent person or sorts, not wanting to be bossed around. Freedom was _crucial_ to her. She was smart, independent, stubborn, and determined: everything nobody would want in a girl or friend...and a girlfriend.

Footsteps came from the other end of the hallway as Ben and Abigail entered to see Issy sitting on the floor, staring into space.

"Is that her?" Abigail asked Ben discreetly.

"Yeah, that's Issy." Ben grabbed hold of Abigail's hand and led her towards the dazed Issy. "Issy?" Issy was awakened from her daydreaming state and looked up at Ben and Abigail. "This is Abigail: my fiancé."

Abigail's eyes widened in shock. "Ben! I thought we were keeping the engagement a secret?!"

"I know about it already," Issy chimed in as she stood from her sitting position. She held out her hand. "I'm Issy," she said politely.

Abigail took her hand and shook it lightly. "I'm Abigail." Both women smiled brightly.

"Yeah, I've heard. Ben talks about you all the time," Issy smirked as Abigail's smile brightened even more.

"I do not!" Ben said in defense. Abigail looked at him somewhat shocked. "No! Well...I do, but..."

Abigail kissed him quickly to save him the suffering. "It's ok, sweetie."

"Ok, enough of that, now," Issy interruptted. "What now?"

"Um...," Ben looked to Abigail for advice. "Well...we could...uh...you kno-"

"Croatia. Captial is Zagreb, roughly 4,443,000 inhabitants, approximately 56,542 kilometers squared, 1,185 islands, 5,835 kilometers of coastline, uses Croatian language and Latin alphabet, currency is the Kuna, and drinkable tap water available all throughout the country." Issy, Ben, and Abigail all looked at Riley in shock as he named off randomly useless facts about Croatia.

"...What?" Ben asked confused.

"Impressive," Issy said while eyeing Riley.

Ben looked from Issy to Riley in utter confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I told Riley my name, as well as myself, are Croatian and he had no clue what Croatia even was."

"I did so!" Riley exclaimed in defense. Everyone, once again, turned their attention to Riley as he stared down at the floor in embarassment. "I knew it was a country," he muttered, hardly audible.

Issy rolled her eyes and laughed. "Well, good job anyways." She walked up to Riley and patted him on the back. "You did a fine job."

"Thanks," he mumbled in reply.

"Where_ is _Croatia, anyways?" Abigail asked, still confused.

Issy opened her mouth to reply, but Riley interuptted before she could begin. "It's borded between Slovenia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Adriatic Sea."

Issy looked to Riley, her mouth agape and eyes twinkling in his presence. "_Very_ impressive."

Ben looked from Issy to Riley again and again. "Uh, Issy, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ben began walking towards the kitchen.

"Sure," Issy said simply, not moving from her position next to Riley.

"Alone?" Ben replied.

"Oh, sure."

As Issy made her way into the kitchen, Ben was leaning against a countertop.

"So..." Silence filled the room as both seemed to be hesitant on talking. "What did you want to talk to me about, Ben?" Issy finally spat out.

"You." Ben said plainly.

"Me?" Issy looked at Ben in confusion. "What do you mean 'me'?"

"I mean you!" Ben raised his voice and stood tall, intimidating Issy. "I'm...sorry, Issy. I'm just kind of...flustered right now."

Issy nodded. "Ok. What is it about me that you need to talk about?"

"Issy, do you like Riley?"

Issy furrowed her brows and looked at Ben in shock. "What?! No, no...I've only known the man for 15 minutes for gods sake!" She stuttered.

"Don't lie to me, Issy"

"I'm not lying to you, Ben!"

"Issy, you can't get involved with Riley" Ben said simply.

"Excuse me?" Issy asked quitely.

"You heard me! You can't get involved with Riley."

"Look, even if I _did_ want to be involved with Riley, which I don't, you are in no place to tell me what to do!"

"Yes I am! I'm your uncle!"

"Uncle or not, I'm an adult now, Ben! I can make decisions for myself!"

"But you're young, you don't know what love is!"

"Love?! Who said anything about love?!"

"Issy-" Ben tried to gently grab hold of Issy's arm, but she pulled it away before he could.

"No, Ben. I'm not in love, nor have I been or will be in a very long time! You can't go assuming things, you know." Issy glared at Ben fiercly. "You have no right to tell me what not and what to do, Ben, no matter how close of a relative you are."

"I just..." Ben sighed before continuing. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Issy," he said in a softened tone.

"I'm perfectly fine taking care of myself, Ben, can't you realize that? I'm 25 now, not 10. I'm mature enough to make my own decisions," Issy replied, her voice softening as well.

Ben stuttered, trying to find the best words to say. "I know, Issy, and you've been dealt with probably the biggest decisions anyone could ever face, and I respect for that, more than you could ever know. But, you have to promise me," Ben stared deeply into Issy's coal colored eyes. "Stay away from Riley."

Issy kept Ben's gaze, her insides burning from betrayal. "I will _not _stay away from Riley just because you say so, Ben." Issy paused for a moment to make sure she had Ben's undivided attention. "I will decide for myself when the time comes what's right for me _and_ for Riley." Issy then turned to leave the kitchen, heading in the opposite direction of Riley and Abigail, steam seeming to blow from her ears.

A/N: Hellooooooo!!! Kind of took long to get this chapter up, but thats ok. I guess I really spoiled you with basically two chapters in one night didn't I?? The next one won't be up for possibly 2 weeks or so because I'm in Las Vegas for dance nationals!! Exciting, isn't it?? Of course...So I'll post then??


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